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“This seems to be the only Li Shan that What-cha carries so it must be this one that Kawaii433 sent me. It was a while ago, but thank you very much again for that excellent package! I will be...”
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“This might be the the most floral tea I’ve ever had, which means it’s not as balanced as I would have liked though. However, I think objectively speaking this tea is higher quality than my current...”
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“This is a fine oolong and I wanted to have a proper reflective sitting with it, but life often doesn’t go as planned, eh? I tried drinking it at the office (nasty water and not worth bringing nice...”
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“Swap Sample Sipdown! (16 | 85)
This was one of many oolong samples that the lovely Kawaii433 saw fit to share with me!
So full disclosure, li shan and ali shan oolong are not my favorites. They...”
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18 Tasting Notes

This seems to be the only Li Shan that What-cha carries so it must be this one that Kawaii433 sent me. It was a while ago, but thank you very much again for that excellent package! I will be drinking it alongside the crazy flavored Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and that may be a mistake, but I will see what I can taste here anyway. I’m also eating some melon so there are all sorts of flavors happening. The oolong itself is very tightly bundled and very dark green. It’s very smooth, silky, with a strong minerals, hint of cream and coconut… as it cools, pineapple. So an odd oolong for flavor notes for me… but I think I had one like this before where it tasted both of coconut and pineapple. Possibly that is how Li Shan varietals taste to me? I like it, but there was also a biteyness to the leaves throughout the consistently flavored steeps, which seems out of place considering the cooler water and short steeps I used. Always glad to try something once though!
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // 3 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
2020 Sipdowns: 10

This might be the the most floral tea I’ve ever had, which means it’s not as balanced as I would have liked though. However, I think objectively speaking this tea is higher quality than my current impression of it.

There are aromas of grass, ice cream, magnolias as well as other flowers, but overall the smell is not too strong. The taste, on the other hand is plenty strong. It has notes of citrus, sugarcane and nectar. It is a very ‘green’ taste with a prevalent floral sweetness. I didn’t get any custard flavours as is often the case with these high mountain oolongs. In the aftertaste, apart from an explosion of flowery notes, I also notice some celery stalks. It is very cooling in the throat and body warming tea. The cha qi is also strong – heady and focusing. The liquor itself is not overly thick, but the mouthfeel is interesting. It is soft and sticky as well as quite lubricating at times.

I feel like this tea has the ability to transport me to a totally different place, as it does well to capture my attention and its characteristics are quite focused.

Preparation

This is a fine oolong and I wanted to have a proper reflective sitting with it, but life often doesn’t go as planned, eh? I tried drinking it at the office (nasty water and not worth bringing nice teas there), at home, and now here. I’ve stretched this last serving over the course of three days, hoping I’d have time to savour it (nope).

First steep: grassy, orange blossoms, citrus, silky, almost creamy. Honey-fruit notes to finish that become more apparent as tea cools. (I got to here).

Preparation

That one is a personal favorite. I’ve had higher end and graded Li Shan’s before, but the silky orange blossom and honey notes make it a winner for me. And I hate having bad water for tea, which is why I bring my own for work.

Daylon, that must be what it is… The orange blossom. I just finished a sipdown on this and was said for it to go even though I have other Li Shan’s left. I think on my next what-cha order, I’m adding it again.

This was one of many oolong samples that the lovely Kawaii433 saw fit to share with me!

So full disclosure, li shan and ali shan oolong are not my favorites. They have a tendency to be quite floral, which is not an attribute that I love in tea.

This one was quite floral as well. The rinse was creamy and delicious with light peach notes, and it probably should have occurred to me to start with shorter steeps because of that. But it didn’t, so I started my first steep at 25s. Next time, I think I’ll start at 15s (at most) for gaoshan.

So the first several steeps were very strong on the floral notes. There were also some sweet peach, grass, pea, and spinach notes in the background. I didn’t find the overall flavor to change a lot during this time, which surprised me. But this may have been a side effect of my poor brewing parameters.

I did really start to enjoy this tea in the last few steeps though, where the flowers faded a bit and I could appreciate the soft grass, vegetal, and fruit notes more.

I will say, every single steep of this tea had an amazing sweet aftertaste that lingered forever. I’m not sure if that was what is referred to as hui gan, or not? Either way, I could definitely appreciate that this is a very good quality tea, even if it isn’t my personal “cup of tea”. ;)

Preparation

There are already some fantastic, detailed reviews on this tea (Reason I tried it and thank you all. :D I so so so enjoy and appreciate all of you who do detailed reviews.) so I’ll just add that I’ve been enjoying this tea throughout the week. A complex taste which evolves: Fruit, floral, nuts, citrusy. What-Cha has my all-time favorite sticky rice oolong, and I love their Vietnamese Oolongs too. This is an exceptional and smooth Li-Shan.

Preparation

I received this as a freebie with my last order, which Alistair graciously handled after an unrelated to this tea request. Incredible customer service.

I’ve been enjoying my few days alone and the long weekend. Phone off – sorry friends and family, no Labor Day activities for me. Just catching up on some physics and engineering coursework, interspersed with furry meowmeowkittymeowmeow bonding and more tea than usual. I should get outside after this, though. It’s a beautiful day, cool and not so sunny that I want to stay in the apartment with curtains closed. I guess it’s not quite summer here yet. This tea seemed like a natural pick for the weather.

I can’t even begin to describe the floral component of this tea. I’m not there yet with high mountain oolongs but I think I can recognize this as a remarkable tea. I was floating while sipping and the tea managed to float above me.

The dry leaf smells like spring bulb flowers such as daffodil and hyacinth. The tea presents as thick and sweet in its aroma, its hour-long aftertaste and in the bottom of the cup. The liquor itself is fairly light-bodied. It starts out mellow with a bouquet of unplaceable-as-of-yet florals, citrus, asian pear, light vegetal, and mineral. Sugarcane, vanilla, sweet cream and a kind of nuttiness like macadamia move in and get cozy, with a cooling sensation showing up in later steeps. The tea seems to just keep ramping up over the course of the session with no extreme changes and never a question of whether I should change the temperature. Very intuitive – I never timed anything beyond the first 3 steeps. It flows incredibly well. Really pleasant energy.

Preparation

A light floral & citrus high mountain oolong…very smooth, light, complex. Delicious. Now on to my 3rd steep.
(Spring 2017 Harvest). I was just on the perusing the What-Cha website- looks like Alistair is running low on this one so if you want to purchase, now is the time.

I’ve been wanting to try this Li Shan for while since it has gotten such rave reviews on Steepster. After finally getting my hands on a sample, I have to say this was worth the hype. Love it when that happens :-)

The leaves of this tea are rolled into giant green nuggets that have a fresh orchid scent. Wet leaf aroma is extraordinarily sweet with florals reminiscent of hyacinth and daffodils. The tea started off fairly thin and light with a bit of sugarcane. Figuring the water temperature was too low, I upped it to 200 F from 190 F to help bring out more flavor in the second steep. Out came a thick nectar of wildflowers and honeycomb. The following steep I used just under boiling water and got more pastoral flowers, minerality, and a fairly viscous mouthfeel that was very soothing. I was really beginning to feel the cha qi at this point.

From there on out, I used straight up boiling water for the next 6 steeps. It went through a complex taste evolution going from buttery to brothy and then fruity; all the while maintaining a distinct gao shan flavor. Interestingly enough, this tea was mostly fruity in the later steeps with little to no vegetal tones unlike other Li shan’s I’ve tried. I loved its sumptuous fruitiness and powerful cha qi. Also impressive was the incredible staying power that lasted through 9 steeps without any bitterness whatsoever.

After 2 sessions with this sample, I had slightly less than 2 grams left which I brewed western style. Though lighter, the western steep brought out more of the tea’s floral aspects into play.

Really impressed with this offering from What-Cha. It’s complexity and evolution of taste over infusions was quite nice. Definitely going to get some more of this tea with my next order.

Flavors: Flowers, Fruity, Nectar, Sugarcane, Sweet

Preparation

I managed to squeeze in another oolong session this evening. This tea was one that I had been meaning to try for some time. What-Cha’s Taiwanese oolongs seem to enjoy a good reputation here and elsewhere, so my hopes were high. Fortunately, this tea lived up to expectations.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted pleasant aromas of cream, butter, grass, and flowers. After the rinse, more distinct impressions of lilac, honeysuckle, and hyacinth emerged, as did traces of vanilla and custard. The first infusion produced a similar bouquet with a very light hint of citrus. In the mouth, I detected mild notes of cream, butter, vanilla, custard, sweetgrass, hyacinth, lilac, and honeysuckle. I did not pick up any citrus. Subsequent infusions revealed hints of lily and magnolia chased by lime zest, green apple, pear, and a faint hint of almond. A lively mineral presence began to emerge toward the back of the throat at this point. Later infusions were dominated by minerals, sweetgrass, cream, butter, and almond, while extremely faint citrus impressions lingered in the background.

This was a very interesting and satisfying high mountain oolong. Though its peak was very brief, the tea remained enjoyable on one level or another throughout the session. I could definitely see this being a rock solid oolong for regular consumption and would recommend it highly to anyone looking for a respectable Li Shan oolong that will not entirely break the bank.

You know I second that. It’s actually my favorite because of how approachable it is. I’m not sure if it has for you, but I’m able to brew it gong fu, western, and grandpa style which is why I love it so much.

You know, I have yet to try it Western or grandpa. I have lately found myself getting stuck in patterns with regard to certain types of tea. For some reason, I always want to save oolongs, pu-erh, and Chinese black teas for gongfu sessions. I tend to favor non-Chinese black teas, black tea blends, green teas, tisanes, and white teas Western style. I’m not sure why I do that. I have quite a bit of this left though, so I’m thinking of trying a multi-step Western process with it.

Sounds awesome. I usually use 3 grams or less in my 16 ounce tumbler for Grandpa, and the same amount western and was surprised how well it worked. I have around 30 grams left myself, so I’ve been slowly switching to western and granpa lately to savor what’s left. I savor my favorite teas too and I’m the same way western with the varieties you just listed with the exception of white teas.

It’s my birthday, and I had an awesome morning despite the schlew of grading, writing, thinking, resume writing, a leak from a whole into the tar roof into my mother’s rooms walls, and the sharp, icy rain. My bloodsugar is still high from some salmon and steak hibachi, and I had this tea, so I should not be complaining.

I had to visit this one to see how it pans as my favorite. I started out with the Qilan What-Cha offers at midnight, and woke up this morning with the new Taiwan Amber GABA Oolong, and this tea to gage how my preferences have changed at age 23.

I’ve found that I’ve like a little bit more baking and maturity in my oolongs, and I have not drank my nucelar Gaoshans as religiously as I used to….never mind I still cling to them like the occasional Hail Mary of an uncommitted Catholic, but a little more. The crisp apple notes and fruity florals are still there in its soothing creamy texture, but it actually came out as being noticeably grassier than the GABA and not quite as sweet. This was creamy verdant sweet, whereas the GABA is its own category of mineral, rock sugar, pear, and light yet “rocky” roast. A part of me preferred the GABA, but I still would have a hard time parting with this tea or its type. The GABA has the benefits as having the pear notes a high mountain oolong would with very short steeps, but it is not going to be as verdant or spring like as this one when I need it to be.

So in short, I have gotten more attached to oolongs with more roast, but I still cannot part with my gaoshans, or this tea for that mattter, for a while, though I might not get as large quantities of it as I used to.